By Dennese Vzmyn Victoria and Antonio Ramon Royandoyan
Dello in one of his most famous rap battles
SMOKE, booze and an awesome amount of ego fill the air. Words are sent whirling towards the adversary; the audience chant to an inaudible but internally felt beat. You need no flashy clothes and the chains hanging low on your neck don't matter. The people are there to hear you speak, rap, whatever you call it. Make every rhyme cutting, make every word worth remembering; and if possible, make them ego-eradicating.
With the realization that the previous paragraph can be personified, the name “Dello” comes into the mind of the modern rap aficionado. He’s the 28 year-old tee-wearing, quick-witted, wicked-mouthed, crowd-favorite rapper in the now acknowledged Flip Top, The First Filipino Rap Battle League.
In contrast to the hip-hop stereotype of having too much real-life air and angst, what is said in Flip Top apparently stays in Flip Top. Sorry fans if you’ve made a Dello altar for yourself, but he’s not exactly what his crowd typecasts him to be; nor does he need to be one.
Wendell Gatmaitan, also known as Dello for Flip Top fans, is actually a Fine Arts graduate. He graduated in 2003 from the Far Eastern University in Manila and has since been part of creating print ad campaigns for big companies such as Smart Telecommunications.
He was not a bum who stayed at home waiting for stardom. Before the 5 million Youtube views, he was an OFW in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; toiling in foreign soil for his mother and son.
“Rapping definitely wasn’t a family thing,” he shares, “even my being an artist was unconventional.”
Dello was born into a family of doctors and lawyers; his brother even works in the Department of Justice. His journey towards the love for art, rap and music in general was a solitary one. Even his friends and classmates did not share his passion. He would drop funny lines at home and everyone would just give a laugh. Never did he realize that rapping could be a talent; that not everyone could do so and in such a clever way.
“It’s still a question for me, how this all happened. I still can’t believe it. People recognize me; ask me to take pictures with them. It feels strange.”
Dello came home to the Philippines last December 2009 to rap. While spending days and nights abroad, he met and formed this group called “Skwaterhawz” with fellow OFW rap enthusiasts. Not too much thought was put into their name as during that time, they came up with it just because “it was needed.”
Just months later Flip Top was launched and he found himself in a freestyle rap battle where he suffered his first defeat.
No one told him that Flip Top was about two people cleverly lambasting each other in front of a demanding and taunting crowd. He decided that he didn’t want to battle anymore after that night.
After sometime, some chiding by friends and some 5 to 6 bottles of Red Horse beers, Dello soon found himself in another battle; this time, with a new opponent, against the bad-mouthed Target. The battle propelled Dello to rap stardom and what his groupmates call his Eminem-like story.
“I don’t actually understand why people get wild over two people verbally abusing each other in public,” he said and smiled as he paused.
“But it’s so dreamlike that I’m doing what I love and people love me for that.”
One of the best
There’s no denying that Dello is one of the best rappers in Flip Top. He is able to smoothly return insults and multiply the hurt by ten. The people holler to his every line, but no one expects that he’s actually very shy.
Though it does not show, Dello is intoxicated in alcohol when he battles. He needs to be. He’s very shy and he needs to have at least 5 bottles of beer to overcome that shyness.
“It’s nerve-wracking in Flip Top. There’s too much smoke, a lot of people surround you, and they’re all looking at you, waiting, for what you have to say, or most of the time, for what you’ll fail to say,” he claims.
Two weeks before a battle is held, a rapper already knows his opponent . They take that time to prepare general lines of insult. When the battle comes and you’re in the center, what matters is how wittingly you can answer back to whatever blow your opponent might have prepared for you; and this is where Dello is really good at.
“I’m thankful that people consider me as one of the best. I like being one of the best; it means that a lot of us can be great at this. It means I’m not alone.”
Attention has really been given to Flip Top; one question raised was them being the new poets of society, ang mga bagong mambabalagtas as they say.
“It’s a good thought but it’s also gets you to think about things. ‘New poets,’ it means someday we too are going to be old, worse, forgotten. But we know that, I know that. I’m just happy that right now we are considered to be that.”
Dello loves the whole rap and hip-hop scene but he also considers other professions, especially when he thinks of his 4-year old son. He’s currently unemployed as to all the gigs he is landing by rapping. Compensation is good but he knows and admits that such interest will not forever be in the rap scene.
“It really depends on the generation. Right now, this generation loves rap. But next time it may not be rap. It may be another thing. A generation creates its own ‘in’ system. It all depends on that.”
He says he’ll be looking for a real job this November; probably as a graphic artist again. He describes it to be a more stable source of income.
“Art is my first love. I’ll always come back to it.”
Hoping for what is good
Hip-hop along with politics, Dello says, is one of the bothersome scenes in the Philippines. It is too troubling as there is too much confusion and fighting. He doesn’t know where Flip Top will go or what it will become in the future. But he’s hoping that it’s going to be “good” for Flip Top and for the general hip-hop scene.
“People need to calm down; especially in Flip Top where nothing is personal. Why will you get mad when in the first place you’re trying to get that person mad yourself?”
Dello doesn’t attack mothers or groups. He’s dropped another rapper’s name only once. He gets ticked off but only at the right times and in the right places and with the right reasons. He gets annoyed, which is wrong, when he is compared to another rapper. But so far he’s handled that well; separating what’s personal from the seemingly personal but actually impersonal world of Flip Top.
He will soon be the godfather of Target’s child, which, most people would assume to be impossible if they think the Dello vs. Target battle seeps in real life. They battle but after that they have fun. What is said in Flip Top should stay in Flip Top. Otherwise a lot of people would have been dead by now.
“I’m a rapper but I don’t have enemies. I guess that’s the only thing I can boast of, but I’m happy about it.”
Wendell Gatmaitan, also known as Dello for Flip Top fans, is actually a Fine Arts graduate. He graduated in 2003 from the Far Eastern University in Manila and has since been part of creating print ad campaigns for big companies such as Smart Telecommunications.
He was not a bum who stayed at home waiting for stardom. Before the 5 million Youtube views, he was an OFW in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; toiling in foreign soil for his mother and son.
“Rapping definitely wasn’t a family thing,” he shares, “even my being an artist was unconventional.”
Dello was born into a family of doctors and lawyers; his brother even works in the Department of Justice. His journey towards the love for art, rap and music in general was a solitary one. Even his friends and classmates did not share his passion. He would drop funny lines at home and everyone would just give a laugh. Never did he realize that rapping could be a talent; that not everyone could do so and in such a clever way.
“It’s still a question for me, how this all happened. I still can’t believe it. People recognize me; ask me to take pictures with them. It feels strange.”
Dello came home to the Philippines last December 2009 to rap. While spending days and nights abroad, he met and formed this group called “Skwaterhawz” with fellow OFW rap enthusiasts. Not too much thought was put into their name as during that time, they came up with it just because “it was needed.”
Just months later Flip Top was launched and he found himself in a freestyle rap battle where he suffered his first defeat.
No one told him that Flip Top was about two people cleverly lambasting each other in front of a demanding and taunting crowd. He decided that he didn’t want to battle anymore after that night.
After sometime, some chiding by friends and some 5 to 6 bottles of Red Horse beers, Dello soon found himself in another battle; this time, with a new opponent, against the bad-mouthed Target. The battle propelled Dello to rap stardom and what his groupmates call his Eminem-like story.
“I don’t actually understand why people get wild over two people verbally abusing each other in public,” he said and smiled as he paused.
“But it’s so dreamlike that I’m doing what I love and people love me for that.”
One of the best
There’s no denying that Dello is one of the best rappers in Flip Top. He is able to smoothly return insults and multiply the hurt by ten. The people holler to his every line, but no one expects that he’s actually very shy.
Though it does not show, Dello is intoxicated in alcohol when he battles. He needs to be. He’s very shy and he needs to have at least 5 bottles of beer to overcome that shyness.
“It’s nerve-wracking in Flip Top. There’s too much smoke, a lot of people surround you, and they’re all looking at you, waiting, for what you have to say, or most of the time, for what you’ll fail to say,” he claims.
Two weeks before a battle is held, a rapper already knows his opponent . They take that time to prepare general lines of insult. When the battle comes and you’re in the center, what matters is how wittingly you can answer back to whatever blow your opponent might have prepared for you; and this is where Dello is really good at.
“I’m thankful that people consider me as one of the best. I like being one of the best; it means that a lot of us can be great at this. It means I’m not alone.”
Attention has really been given to Flip Top; one question raised was them being the new poets of society, ang mga bagong mambabalagtas as they say.
“It’s a good thought but it’s also gets you to think about things. ‘New poets,’ it means someday we too are going to be old, worse, forgotten. But we know that, I know that. I’m just happy that right now we are considered to be that.”
Dello loves the whole rap and hip-hop scene but he also considers other professions, especially when he thinks of his 4-year old son. He’s currently unemployed as to all the gigs he is landing by rapping. Compensation is good but he knows and admits that such interest will not forever be in the rap scene.
“It really depends on the generation. Right now, this generation loves rap. But next time it may not be rap. It may be another thing. A generation creates its own ‘in’ system. It all depends on that.”
He says he’ll be looking for a real job this November; probably as a graphic artist again. He describes it to be a more stable source of income.
“Art is my first love. I’ll always come back to it.”
Hoping for what is good
Hip-hop along with politics, Dello says, is one of the bothersome scenes in the Philippines. It is too troubling as there is too much confusion and fighting. He doesn’t know where Flip Top will go or what it will become in the future. But he’s hoping that it’s going to be “good” for Flip Top and for the general hip-hop scene.
“People need to calm down; especially in Flip Top where nothing is personal. Why will you get mad when in the first place you’re trying to get that person mad yourself?”
Dello doesn’t attack mothers or groups. He’s dropped another rapper’s name only once. He gets ticked off but only at the right times and in the right places and with the right reasons. He gets annoyed, which is wrong, when he is compared to another rapper. But so far he’s handled that well; separating what’s personal from the seemingly personal but actually impersonal world of Flip Top.
He will soon be the godfather of Target’s child, which, most people would assume to be impossible if they think the Dello vs. Target battle seeps in real life. They battle but after that they have fun. What is said in Flip Top should stay in Flip Top. Otherwise a lot of people would have been dead by now.
“I’m a rapper but I don’t have enemies. I guess that’s the only thing I can boast of, but I’m happy about it.”
1 comments:
Everytime I watch their battles, I really had a good time.Flip Top was just not all about rhyming, brawling and sneering. in their every lines there is a line that resonate in every viewers mind.It gives an important meaning in life.That's why I love watching their battles:)
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